The Weather Man

This dreadlocked son of a preacher takes to the footy fields on a Saturday and to the pulpit on a Sunday and add to that his role as the Donald Weather Station man.

Jono Ingram was born in Dubbo the son of a Baptist preacher. He now lives in Donald with his wife and child working as the pastor at the Granite Community Church in the middle of a paddock about 30 kilometres out of town. It is part of the Baptist Union of Victoria.

Growing up a son of a preacher, Jono was never expected to follow in his father’s footsteps. But after what he calls an “unmistakable sense of call” followed by a lengthy 5-year process of study and many questions and much discussion later he decided to go into pastoral ministry.

It is a job that takes place both inside and outside the church, spilling into the community, what he loves most.

But there are some challenges to the job. You can be on call all the time potentially getting rung up at all hours.

In addition to preaching Jono also works in chaplaincy at the local school. This is a role of pastoral care provided for the teachers, students and their families. It is a challenging and varied role. On any given day he could be dealing with bullying to a death in the family.

Aside form these two roles that keep him pretty busy he also has another calling, the role of the Donald Weather Station man. In a place like the Wimmera, with its heart in farming, this role is not to be taken lightly. The all-important weather is an important factor in the lives of regional Australians especially farmers who rely on it for their livelihood.

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Comments

Larissa Romensky

You're welcome. ABC Open will be heading to Donald Primary School in the not too distant future to run some worshops for the video postcards project. We might let you sit in since you work at the school!

Jono

Thanks for making this video Larissa... good job! It was fun to do too. You've inspired me to have a crack at making my own short doco-style videos! Cheers!